Vitamin and mineral supplements for human and veterinary use are commonplace. The medical management of certain anemias can be handled rather well by increasing the daily intake of iron Some diets, or heavy physical exercise, may require the intake of considerable quantities of minerals apart from those generally obtained through what otherwise would be considered a balanced diet.
Vitamin supplementation is important primarily for those who have inadequate diets, including growing children. In developing countries where the dietary intake of minerals and vitamins are low in the general population, such a nutritional supplement would have great value.
Commercially available mineral supplements are useful in many circumstances where enhanced mineral uptake is desirable. However, adhering to a regimen which requires separate intake of vitamin and mineral supplements can give suboptimal results simply because the regimen requires a change in the normal habits and practices of the user. It would be more convenient if the vitamins and minerals could be administered conjointly in a convenient and pleasant tasting form which would not require extra attention, planning and implementation by the user.
In addition, some materials interfere with the absorption of iron. The administration of iron and vitamins in a format which enhances absorption of the iron is highly desirable.
There are well-recognized problems associated with adding both vitamins and iron supplements to foods and beverages. The highly bioavailable iron sources (e.g., ferrous sulfate, ferrous gluconate, etc.) which are commonly used to fortify foods tend to discolor foodstuffs, or to be organoleptically unsuitable. Moreover, it is particularly difficult to formulate foods and, especially, beverages, containing fats and these iron sources as these materials tend to interact. The fats are oxidized producing off-flavors. This interaction not only affects the organoleptic and aesthetic properties of the foods and beverages (the iron can turn the food green and the oxidized fats smell like hydrocarbons), but also undesirably affects the nutritional bioavailability of these materials. On the other hand, the inert iron sources (reduced iron, ferric pyrophosphate, etc.) cause little or no organoleptic problems; however, they are poorly absorbed from the gut. The challenge is to fortify foods with highly bioavailable iron sources without adversely affecting the color or taste of the product.
Vitamins tend to decompose over time in beverages. It is well known that orange juice and other citrus beverages lose their vitamin C content over time. This decomposition occurs even in dry foods if the total moisture is too high, about 10%-15%. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) acts as an anti-oxidant and therefore is itself reduced or changed when added to beverages. Vitamin A and its precursor, .beta.-carotene, and riboflavin are also subject to degradation over time.
It would be desirable, therefore, to have vitamin C present with iron wherein bioavailability of both the iron and of the vitamin is optimized. It would also be useful to have such supplements which can be used in beverage compositions without undesirably affecting organoleptic or aesthetic properties.
It is an object of the present invention to provide mixed vitamin and iron mineral supplements which fulfill these unmet needs.
It is a further object of this invention to provide dry beverage mixes which are supplemented with vitamin C, and iron which are stable on storage.
It is a further object herein to provide means for enhancing biological uptake of iron, especially from chocolate flavored beverages, which are both palatable and stable.
These and other objects are secured herein, as will be seen from the following disclosure.